A hydro-power plant in Lam Dong province.

According to a scientific report on managing environmental pollution caused by hydro-power plants that was compiled by an official from the Lam Dong Department of Natural Resources and Environment, the development of hydro-power plants has taken away a large area of forest and agricultural land.

Notably, the smaller the hydro-power works are, the larger the areas of forest are taken. To have 1 MW power, small and medium-sized hydro-power plants will take away 16 hectares of forest while large plants take away 10 hectares of forest.

The Lam Dong Department of Natural Resources and Environment’s statistics reveal that hydro-power works in the province have taken away around 15,000 hectares of forest, which resulted in the reduction of biodiversity, changes in the living environment of fauna and floral species and changes in the ecological system. Consequently, drought and flood have become more serious.

The scientific report also says that hydro-power investors have to plant new forest to compensate the forest area they cut down to build their plants but most of investors don’t do this job well and in some cases local authorities don’t have land for reforestation.

The report also supplies specific data about hydro-power projects in Lam Dong province’s rivers. According to the report, there are up to 14 plants in Da Dang river, 11 in Dong Nai river, 8 in Da Nhim river, 6 in Krong No river, 6 in Da Huoai River, 6 in La Nga river, 5 in Luy river and 1 in Quao river.

The report also points out specific losses caused by hydro-power plants. In the flood in early November 2010, farmers in Don Duong district, downstream from Da Nhim hydro-power plant, suffered losses of over 23 billion dong (over $1.1 million). Though the power plant discharged water according to regulations, this act caused great losses to local farmers.

The downstream areas of hydro-power plants also suffer from droughts during the dry season because the plants store water for power generation.

Hydro-power plants also admitted to the fact that the plants cause water shortages in the dry season and rapid water drainage in the rainy season.

Dai Ninh hydro-power plant, the second biggest power plant in Lam Dong province, said that last year it paid VND20 billion (over $1 million) in taxes to Lam Dong but this year taxes will reduce because its power output this year is lower than that in 2009. The reason is water shortage.

Director of the Da Nhim – Ham Thuan – Da Mi power plant, Nguyen Trong Oanh also said that the local environment has changed. He said in the past, if the rainfall in the upstream was 50mm, flood water would run to his plant’s reservoir after 7-8 hours. At present, the water will come after only four hours.

“It means that the forest in the upstream has been cut down,” Oanh said.

Earlier, Lam Dong’s Vice Chair Hoang Si Son confirmed at a meeting between the local authorities and hydro-power plants on November 18 that power plants contributed a lot to the local budget through paying natural resource and environment tariffs and value added tax (VAT) as well as forest protection fees. The income from power plants reaches dozens of billion dong a year.

According to statistics of the Lam Dong People’s Committee, the province has 57 hydro-power small and medium sized projects totaling 385 MW in capacity. Of the 57 projects, 38 projects have been approved and 17 have been implemented. In addition, seven big plants are under construction and will be operating soon.